It has now been a full year since dance companies around the globe presented their last live performance in a theater. During that time, many companies have created virtual performances via Zoom, Facebook and Instagram, and a handful have performed Drive-In Dances in parking lots during which the audience remains inside their cars while the dancers perform in front of the cars’ headlights. One or two companies, such as Benita Bike DanceArt Company and Donna Sternberg & Dancers have performed live in parks before a limited audience wearing masks and socially distanced.
On March 11-14, 2021, BrockusRED will present HOME – an evening of dance celebrating our shared humanity online. Deborah Brockus is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of BrockusRED and as she stated in a recent press release, “we gather online to show a collection of short dance films by BrockusRED contemplating our relationship with time, place, people, community and our place in history- all while spending so much time…. at HOME.” All FREE (Link to register below) the shows will air on Vimeo running non-stop from noon March 11 through midnight on March 14. Also, on Zoom March 13th at 7 – 8pm (PST) audiences can register to view Meet the Artists.
Brockus said that to help her selections of videos for HOME she put works from her repertory into categories, for example: Memories, Centering and Time at Home. The dances that fit into Memories included Dunes and sections from a work titled Drift. Women’s breath was put in the category of Centering and Time at Home included atHome, Hand Dances, Home, and a new work titled Sinking into Soft. Other works of hers that were under consideration when we corresponded were Missing/Passing, When Ashes Fall, and Great Beyond. The program runs for four days, so we all will have to register and see which dances Brockus chose.
BrockusRED – “Dunes” choreography by Deborah Brockus – Photo by Tony Mierzwicki
Brockus has been anything but idle over the past year. June 23-30 she produced Off the Stage & Onto the Screen which she worked with 5 choreographers to create new work for online viewing in lieu of a previously scheduled shared showcase with Dance Camera West. July 31-August 2, 2020 Brockus produced the Virtual LA DANCE FESTIVAL featuring works by seven different choreographers, and during the month of October she Co-produced the Los Angeles Dance 2020 with The Luckman Fine Arts Complex. That festival included 10 companies from the LA area, two dance artists from South Korea, as well as a series of master classes.
On March 8th (tonight) – 6 – 7 pm (PST) BrockusRED will be one of the companies featured via Zoom Pro on International Women’s Day Livestream Celebration produced by MashUp Contemporary Dance Company.
Funded by a grant from the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, BrockusRED also participated in the 4 week project FOOD CONNECT “to Feed 100 of our Students in 2 Long Beach elementary schools and to promote healthy eating and lifestyles, Farmers market Fresh, plus cooking ideas, plus fun food dances”.
BrockusRED team at work – Photo courtesy of the company
Last fall BrockusRED had a big successful in West Hollywood with its mobile performances DriveBy Dance, which is exactly what it sounds like. The company drove around West Hollywood in a pickup truck, stopping periodically to perform for people standing on their porches, yards, doorways and in the street. Thanks to a grant from the Long Beach Arts Council, BrockusRED will be repeating DriveBy Dance with pop-up shows in Long Beach later this year. Follow BrockusRED Dance Company on social media for more updates @brockusreddanceco.
BrockusRED – DriveBy Dance – Photo courtesy of the company
Brockus has long been an avid dance educator, at one time running her own school. Now she continues her Dance Ed Program: In-School and After-School via Zoom with numerous dance styes for a variety of age groups. This too is all free thanks to a grant from the California Arts Council. For more information email brockus.danceinla@gmail.com.
Dance Ed Program- Photo courtesy of Brockus Project Dance
To register for access to view HOME – an evening of dance celebrating our shared humanity and Meet the Artists, click HERE.
To visit the Brockus Project Dance website, click HERE.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
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